On International Women’s Day let’s listen up to the voices of powerful women who surely deserve a lot of mention. We are talking about Kangana Ranaut’s elder sister, Rangoli, who was the victim of a brutal acid attack in the year 2006, when she was only 23-years-old.
Ahead of Women’s Day, the Ranaut sisters did an exclusive interview with an entertainment website where they opened up about a bunch of things: their take on feminism, their early, and their struggle together. Rangoli is a woman of strength who took all the oain she faced in her stride to move ahead. She said, “Acid permeates into the skin if untreated. So immediate medical help can only control it. If it is stronger, it destroys your organs. I have lost one ear. I have lost 90% vision in one of my eyes. I have a dysfunctional breast. And all this is after I got the best possible treatment in the country. Acid attack is not a regular accident. When it happened, I was unable to breathe because my windpipe was shrinking. Scars were the last thing on my mind then. I didn’t have the courage to face a mirror for three months. I was shaken up. My prerogative was struggling for my life because both my food and windpipe were severely damaged. I was in the hospital for a month and I underwent multiple surgeries during that time. Every day I was taken to the operation theatre for something or the other.”
To that Kangana said, “I wanted her to come out and speak about this. Because when she was struggling, looking for hope, I didn’t know whose example to show her. We don’t glorify the right heroes. And I want men to know how far people stoop in aggression. We need to tell our children that one who does such things is not our hero. Hero is the one who survives blame, rejection and ruthlessness. People should give my sister the credit she deserves. There is no reservation for attack victims. There are reservations for physically able people but those ostracized for no fault of theirs have no one championing for their cause. The guy who did this to my sister was out for two years before his trial started. Our society should see what criminals are capable of and set an example that no one takes this route of destroying someone’s life. Her life is not ruined but he is a scumbag and that should come across.” Hats off to both the sisters we say. They lead by example and walk the talk. Guess that is what true heroes are like and our dear Kangana never minces any words. She concluded by saying, “Everyone goes through sh*t and that’s not in anyone’s control. No one wants to talk about it. We glorify fairytale angles far too much. I don’t think mine or Rangoli’s life is any different than that of others. To give the impression that I was born a special child and over the years, I became more special is the most clichéd way of portraying a celebrity. We are real women who have worked hard, fought our battles and won! Life cannot be a joyride; it will be a rollercoaster ride. Any incident or accident can’t define you. Go beyond it and be much more.”
